Frequently Asked Questions: This page contains answers to common questions of students and parents.

1. How to read a short story - guidelines
2. How to read a poem - guidelines
3. Literary Terms - Explanation

How to read a short story - guidelines

1.	SETTING - time & place. Where and when does the story take
        place? Does the setting make a difference, or could this story take
        place anytime, anywhere? How might a different setting affect the 
        story? 

2.	CHARACTERS - who are the major and minor characters? What characters
        are multidimensional/round? What characters are flat/static? Why? How
        is their character revealed (dialogue, thoughts, dress, setting,
        action, editorial comment, etc.)? What is their motivation? What
        emotions do they create in you? 

3.	PLOT - What exactly happens in the story? (sequence of events) What 
        are the significant events in the story? Is there a conflict in the 
        story? What is the climax of the story? How does the story end 
        (resolution)?

4.	POINT OF VIEW - Who tells the story? What about the narrator makes a 
        difference in the story?
        First-person : story told through a character directly involved in 
        the story itself
        Third-person limited : story told through a person observing the 
story
        Third-person omniscient : story told through the eyes of an all-
        knowing being who can get into the characters' minds and hearts.

5.	THEME - What is the theme of the story? (the main topic) What is the
        significance of the title? What does the story say about life?

6.	MORAL LESSON - What is the moral lesson/ message the author is trying
        to convey?

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How to read a poem - guidelines

1. SPEAKER. Who is the speaker? What person (first, second, third) is the 
   poet speaking in? To whom is the poem addressed? 

2. SETTING or SITUATION. What is the setting? Real? Abstract? What about the 
   situation? 

3. REPETITIONS.  What elements are repeated? Why? What instances of 
   repetition does the poet use? What is the effect of the repetition?

4. POETIC DEVICES.  What figures of speech does the poem contain? (Metaphor, 
   simile, symbols, personification)

5. IMAGERY.  What kinds of images does the poet use? Visual? Auditory? 
   Patterns of light/dark, mind/body, life/death. 

6. TONE. What is the tone of the poem? Solemn? Humorous? Objective?
 
7. MESSAGE. What message is the poet trying to convey?

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Literary Terms - Explanation

Setting: is determining Time and Place in fiction. 

Rhyme: is a pattern of words that contain similar sounds. 
Example: go/show/glow/know/though 

Rhythm: The dictionary tells us it is "a movement with uniform recurrence of 
a beat or accent."

Metaphor: is comparison of two unlike things using the verb "to be" and not 
using like or as in a simile. 
Example: He is a pig. Life is a journey. 

Simile: is the comparison of two unlike things using like or as. 
Example: He eats like a pig. My love is like a red, red rose. 

Symbol: is using an object or action that means something more than its 
literal meaning. A concrete object which stands for an abstract notion.
Example: the bird of night (owl is a symbol of death) 

Image: is language that evokes one or all of the five senses: seeing, 
hearing, tasting, smelling, touching. 

Personification: is giving human qualities to animals or objects. 
Example: a smiling moon, a jovial sun 

Tone: is the attitude a writer takes towards a subject or character: 
serious, humorous, sarcastic, ironic, satirical, tongue-in-cheek, solemn, 
objective.

Verse: is a line of poetry. 

Stanza: is a unified group of lines in poetry. 

Alliteration: is the repetition of initial consonant sounds in neighboring 
words.
Example: In clich�s: sweet smell of success, a dime a dozen, bigger and 
better, jump for joy.
Wordsworth: And sings a solitary song That whistles in the wind.

Irony: is an implied discrepancy between what is said and what is meant.
Three kinds of irony:
1. Verbal irony is when an author says one thing and means something else.
2. Dramatic irony is when an audience perceives something that a character 
in the literature does not know.
3. Irony of situation is a discrepancy between the expected result and 
actual results. 

Theme: is the general idea or insight about life that a writer wishes to 
express

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